November 17, 2011 10:19am ESTNovember 17, 2011 9:58am ESTThe Marlins have made an offer to free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols, but it isn't as lucrative as first believed and might not be enough to land him.

Staff report

Published on Nov. 17, 2011

Nov. 17, 2011

The Miami Marlins are willing to spend this offseason, but perhaps not as much as previously thought.

Despite initial reports that the team offered free agent first baseman Albert Pujols a nine-year deal worth $225 million, The Miami Herald reports the offer was for well below the $200 million mark.

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“The (salary) number doesn’t have a “2” in front of it,” a major league source told the newspaper, which speculates Pujols ultimately will price himself out of the Marlins’ range.

The Cardinals’ last known offer to Pujols came in the spring and was believed to be for nine years and worth between $200 million and $210 million. According to a Yahoo! Sports report, a third team—perhaps the Chicago Cubs or Texas Rangers—also is pursuing Pujols this offseason.

In addition, the rumored six-year, $90 million offer from the Marlins to free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes also was exaggerated a bit, according to The Miami Herald.

Although they might not be throwing around as much money as first believed, the Marlins are taking an aggressive approach to free agency. They also have made offers to lefthander Mark Buehrle and closer Ryan Madson., and they have talked to the agents for righthander Roy Oswalt and lefthander C.J. Wilson.

The Marlins won’t discuss the specifics of any of the offers.

“I’d like to not talk and read about it,” president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told The Miami Herald. “I’d like to do some stuff. Let’s just do some stuff.”